Serving Under the Stars and Stripes in 2005

As you may know, I’ve been called to serve overseas and participate in Operation Iraqi Freedom, OIF under the order of the President and with the consent of the Governor of California. This is my third time overseas, first in Central America during the late 80’s then to Germany during the initial actions in Afghanistan and Iraq in 2002. I wanted to share some thoughts and observations as a 38 year old husband and father of four young children and an Orange County businessman and La Mirada resident.

This past month has been quite the adventure. As the cadence call goes: “up in the morning ‘fore the crack of dawn busy as heck ‘till the sun goes down”. Back in the Regular Army and preparing for going overseas is a totally different universe of experience from my job as a Financial Advisor at Merrill Lynch in Brea. No desk jobs or telephones and computers here. This is where schedules change rapidly without notice and we have to beware of frequent delays. Getting reacquainted with the M-9 and M-16 along with their brothers the M-249 and M-60 machine guns has been fun. The unit I’am shipping out with is a unique animal in Army terms. We have the major Combat Arms branches represented, Infantry, Armor, Aviation and Artillery and Engineers and we are looking forward to making a big impact when we arrive “in-country”. While I can’t be specific in detail concerning the operation, I can be specific with my observations. First of all, we have citizen-soldiers from so many different walks of life: diesel mechanics, kid’s soccer and baseball coaches, college students, business consultants and a 10 th grade high school science teacher. We also have a private practice litigation, and a county defense attorney along with a local police investigator and a UPS driver and a mom with a 3 year old and a four month old. Some of these soldiers joined the service as long as 29 years ago and have battle experience in Southeast Asia, Panama and Desert Storm. All of these soldiers joined the Army as volunteers and although this current call-to-duty may not have been voluntary, each is proud to serve in their own way under the Stars and Stripes and in our case the flag of California. Like me, many have children and a wife at home waiting and deserving of protection and defending even to the death. If there is one thing we share in common it is that we desire to protect our own families and friends from the murderous terrorists by force if necessary. This is what drives us to endure and prevail.

Along with the varied backgrounds, there are different wartime experiences that have joined us like those of Major “G” who was an M-1 Tank Commander in Iraq who shared with us many of the happenings in Iraq. To hear from his own lips of the appreciation he received from grateful Iraqi’s for the blessings that America is bringing to Iraq: the schools open and full of children, the market places busy with hustle and bustle, and of a life free from fear of Saddam’s butchery and the chance to vote. In his opinion, the news coverage on CNN is a gross injustice to the actual occurrences in Iraq. He said: “If LA County was given the news coverage similar to Baghdad, no one would live there anymore. LA is full of shootings and murders everyday along with robberies, stabbings, kidnapping and rape. Major gang related warfare occurs everyday, but who cares right? I guess there is no political benefit to covering it more harshly like there must be in the Iraq media coverage scheme.”

The training environment is hot (111+degrees), sandy, physically challenging and real. The equipment we have is new and very heavy too. The training scenarios run the spectrum from convoy protection and ambush training and administering first aid to operating a compass and GPS navigation aids. The attitude of the commanders and soldiers is somber at times especially when we hear of the recent tactics of the foreign terrorists who have infiltrated Iraq and who are our main adversaries. The saddest and latest thing being done is that terrorists are sending women and children to walk in front of our convoys to slow them down so they can ambush us. Another thing happening is that innocent Iraqi’s who have taken their cars to be repaired by a mechanic are unwittingly having bombs placed under their cars. As the owners drive from the service station, they are followed and remotely detonated as they pass a target of interest by the terrorists. These poor unsuspecting people are worthy of being defended too. The desperation of these terrorists is evident in our briefings and we will continue to defeat them. If for no other reason, we are more stubborn and just smarter at figuring out how to beat them. I believe it’s called “good ole’ American ingenuity”.

This Fourth of July Independence Day Celebration is sweeter this year. This experience reminds me more clearly how precious America is and also helps me appreciate the ordinary things of life and realizing again that the peace and tranquility that allows my family and children to enjoy their simple daily lives is a result of sacrifice being born by someone who cares enough to stand and endure. I am honored and look forward to joining those who are doing that right now. There’s more training to do before I go and I’ll write more later.

Thanks for your support